Biography

Gen Urobuchi joined the company Nitroplus as a writer and made his debut in 2001 by writing the scenario of the visual novel Phantom of Inferno, which was later adapted into a TV series and OVA series. His writing activity at Nitroplus continued in the following years with the release of Vampirdzhija Vjedogonia, Kikokugai - The Cyber Slayer and one of his best known works, Saya no Uta. He also actively participated in the company as an advisor to other titles, as well as for the Nitro+Chiral branch.

In 2004 he was approached by Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi of Type-Moon with the offer to write a prequel to Fate/Stay Night. At that time, Urobuchi stated that he was going through a difficult period where he felt like he couldn't write the perfect ending. The offer gave him the chance to write a story where he would not have to worry about this. In the postface of the first Fate/Zero volume, he states that this opportunity probably saved his writing career.

When he was 24 years old he had to be hospitalised due to an epidemic. He mentions that spending several months recovering and living like a dead man ended up influenced his work, such as letting him kill off characters without hesitation. Therefore, he is known for writing especially gruesome stories.

Involvement in the Magica Quartet

In Autumn 2008, Urobuchi was called by Iwakami when Shinbo expressed his desire to work on an original Magical Girl anime, project which later became Puella Magi Madoka Magica. He wrote the full script for the series.

When looking over Shinbo's and Ume Aoki's previous work, Urobuchi decided that he wanted to make a work where the central focus would be the 'friendship between girls'. While working on the story, he mentioned that one of the first priorities was incorporating Ume Aoki's world-view into it. His plot proposal got accepted during the first meeting and the script was not changed much from the first draft.

The initial intention was to keep his involvement a secret at first, but this was scrapped when the staff list was leaked early during development. Due to Urobuchi's participation and his writing history, the work quickly gained the nickname "Chidamari Sketch" (chidamari is 'pool of blood') before broadcast, despite his claims of wanting to write a heartwarming story. After episode 3 aired, he apologised for misleading the audience.

No kidding. Even Urobuchi admits on the Blu-ray commentary that his own story is hard to watch.

According with Urobuchi, Magical Girls are not always girls of justice. What some may call justice, it may be evil for others. Good intentions, kindness, and hope will not necessarily make people happy.[1]

Being Urobuchi is suffering: On one hand, if Urobuchi stopped being Urobuchi he would lead a healthier and happier life. On the other hand, no more Madoka Magica. This is clearly the definition of Sophie's choice.

Gen Urobuchi admits to bullying Sayaka, even from the initial proposal idea for the anime.

Q: What is your favorite Madoka character?A: I liked writing Sayaka's story the most, so it would be her.[2]

In the audio commentary for Episode 12, when Chiwa Saito and Aoi Yuuki asked for a bit of happiness for their characters (and themselves) in the alleged second season, Gen Urobuchi was ambiguous about giving a happy ending.

Ume Aoki points out that Gen Urobuchi doesn't give out happiness that easily.

Apparently, the extent of his generosity in giving away some happiness (relatively speaking) is proof enough that he can make a happy story. He calls this "his proof".

Then again he cant help himself by teasing them with a final and ambiguous answer regarding some future happiness if a second season is ever made.

To be fair, Shinbo thought of it first. From the start, Urobuchi planned to have Madoka take Homura with her, thus creating a "happy ending" of sorts, but decided it wouldn't be a good enough ending. Then, Shinbo suggested the concept "Madoka and Homura into enemies”, Urobuchi accepted the idea and admitted that this was a breakthrough for him. Urobuchi believes that Rebellion got a happy ending for at least its main character, Homura.

"Sometimes when I see someone who's a spirit of justice… I feel like I want to destroy them!"[3]

Trivia

In his interview with Kirara Magica, Gen Urobuchi never actually planned for a sequel while writing the original series. Whenever he talked about it he was just joking.

As a result, Gen Urobuchi had to come up with a new plot for his sequel that it was then turned into a movie as the content was too short for a TV series format.

Gallery

Gen Urobuchi 10 years ago.

Gen Urobuchi nowadays.

Not even Charlotte can defeat Gen Urobuchi.

Fan Gallery

This section contains fanart images

Everything in the following fan gallery is created, or the comments accompanying them are created, for entertainment value and should not be confused with actual canon events of the Puella Magi franchise.